Court rejects California law requiring abortion information at pregnancy centers
McClatchy DC's KATE IRBY: "Anti-abortion centers that help pregnant women likely do not have to give those women information about low-cost access to abortions, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday."
"Pregnancy crisis centers are generally nonprofit institutions associated with religious groups that provide free goods and services to pregnant women."
"California enacted a law in 2015 mandating that those centers post signs or notices in waiting rooms that inform clients of other centers that offer “immediate free or low-cost access to comprehensive family planning services, prenatal care, and abortion, for eligible women."
Jerry Brown dined with soda industry representatives ahead of tax ban deal
Sacramento Bee's ALEXEI KOSEFF: "Weeks before negotiating a lucrative deal to ban new local taxes on soda and other sugary drinks in California for more than a decade, top representatives for the beverage industry met with Gov. Jerry Brown for a private dinner at the governor's mansion."
"Since it emerged over the weekend, public health advocates behind a growing movement to tax sugary drinks have decried the deal, which bans cities and counties from creating taxes on "groceries" through 2030, as a cynical ploy to protect the profits of soda companies. Some have pointed to the June 6 meeting with Brown as evidence of the beverage industry's undue influence at the Capitol, where it has blocked bills to tax or put warning labels on sugary drinks for years."
"In a photo taken at the governor's mansion following the dinner and obtained by The Sacramento Bee, Brown and his wife, Anne Gust Brown, pose around a staircase with representatives from the beverage industry, including Kevin Keane, the American Beverage Association's executive vice president of government and public affairs; Fredericka McGhee, who oversees its lobbying operations in California; Lupe De La Cruz, who manages Pepsi's political activities in the western United States; and Nancy Limon, a Los Angeles-based director of public affairs for Coca-Cola. The photographer and others in the photograph remain unidentified."
Yolo County supervisors vote to keep housing teen immigrants for federal authorities
Sacramento Bee's KELLEN BROWNING: "After more than two hours of public comment and debate, the Yolo County Board of Supervisors voted 3-1 Tuesday afternoon to keep open a juvenile detention facility that houses immigrant youth deemed dangerous by federal immigration authorities."
"For 10 years, the county has worked with the U.S. Health and Human Services' Office of Refugee Resettlement to house up to 24 undocumented immigrant teenagers who have been accused of crimes or pose serious risks to themselves or others. It's one of just three high-security juvenile immigration detention centers in the U.S. where young immigrants can be detained while the government pursues legal action against them."
"In April, the county's chief probation officer, Brent Cardell, recommended the facility be closed, citing a lack of staffing and frequent assaults and injuries to staff members by the detained youth."
READ MORE related to Immigration: Judge: Separated families must be reunited within 30 days -- AP's ELLIOT SPAGAT/MICHAEL BALSAMO/WILL WEISSERTTravel ban ruling stirs dismay among immigrants, advocates -- AP's JEFF KAROUB/JULIE WATSON; Effort to use DNA tests to reunite migrant families is paused -- The Chronicle's CATHERINE HO; Teen runaway highlights weakness in federal shelters holding young immigrants -- LA Times's MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE
California elected officials get a pay raise
Sacramento Bee's BRYAN ANDERSON: "Statewide elected officials and lawmakers in California will be getting a 3 percent raise at the end of the year."
"The California Citizens Compensation Commission approved the salary increases Tuesday, continuing a pattern of steady increases over the last seven years that adjust for inflation."
"Chairman Tom Dalzell said the pay raise represented an "incremental, modest, symbolic increase."
California prison guards approve one-year contract with a 5 percent raise
Sacramento Bee's ADAM ASHTON: "California state correctional officers will see a sweet pay increase a year from now through a short contract it struck with Gov. Jerry Brown's administration."
"The California Correctional Peace Officers Association on Tuesday announced that its members approved an agreement that gets them a 5 percent wage increase on July 1, 2019."
"Our negotiations team worked hard to get us a good, fair contract. Our membership recognized this and voted accordingly," CCPOA President Chuck Alexander said."
LA County supervisors call for review of child protection system in wake of Anthony Avalos' death
LA Times's NINA AGRAWAL: "The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday ordered officials in charge of child protection to examine shortcomings in the system in the wake of a 10-year-old boy’s death last week."
"Anthony Avalos was found unresponsive at his family’s home in Lancaster on June 20 with severe head injuries and cigarette burns covering his body. He died Thursday."
LA visit by US Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions sparks downtown protest, arrests
LA Times's MELISSA ETEHAD/HAILEY BRANSON-POTTS/MICHAEL LIVINGSTON: "Atty. Gen. Jeff Sessions on Tuesday dismissed critics of the Trump administration’s immigration policies as open-borders advocates during a speech in downtown Los Angeles that drew hundreds of protesters."
"The rhetoric we hear from the other side on the issue, as on many others, has become radicalized,” Sessions said during a speech to a criminal justice organization. “We hear views on television today that are on the lunatic fringe, frankly."
Obama coming to Bay Area for fundraiser. Top ticket: $237,000 per couple
The Chronicle's JOE GAROFOLI: "More than a year removed from the White House, former President Barack Obama is still the Democratic Party’s most powerful fundraiser — a prowess that will be on display when he appears in Atherton on Friday for a luncheon where the top ticket is $237,000 per couple."
"It costs a minimum of $10,000 per person to grab a plate."
"Obama will appear at the Atherton home of Liz Simons (daughter of hedge fund billionaire James Simons) and her husband, Mark Heising, said a source familiar with the event. Simons was one of the Bay Area donors who helped bankroll a campaign supporting Stacey Abrams, winner of last month’s Democratic primary for governor in Georgia. Abrams would be the first African American woman to lead a state in the nation’s history if she prevails in November."
Another building is sinking in San Francisco -- this one by less than an inch
The Chronicle's JOHN KING: "In a city where a tilting 58-story tower has attracted international attention, the construction of big buildings now is scrutinized for any sign that a newcomer might be causing structural damage to its neighbors."
"Which is why a full investigation was launched this winter after an anonymous complaint that the excavations for a pair of new, extra-tall towers were harming the 18-story high-rise in between."
"And the scrutiny is certain to continue — even though the impact measured so far is less than an inch."
With California in the lead, LGBTQ history gets boost in school curriculum
EdSource's JAMES HILTON HARRELL: "California is the home of some of the nation’s earliest and most influential “out” gay leaders. It’s no surprise then that California has paved the way for teaching gay history in our K-12 schools and that other states are beginning to follow suit."
"The 2011 passage of California’s FAIR Education Act mandated that LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer) accomplishments be taught in our history and social studies classrooms in an age-appropriate manner. This law doesn’t teach morality; it teaches our students that gay Americans have been an integral part of our society and continue to shape our current world."
"What does teaching gay history look like? In elementary schools, this might be reading a book where a character has two moms or two dads. In secondary education, it can be learning about California’s own Harvey Milk or the gay liberation movement. For teachers, these shifts can seem minimal — after all, more and more teachers are being trained on culturally responsive pedagogy."
READ MORE related to Education: Network of California districts to explore the enigma of engaging parents -- EdSource's JOHN FENSTERWALD
Tuesday night shocker: Next generation of Dems pushing party leaders aside
McClatchy DC's ALEX ROARTY: "Progressives have been warning party leaders that a new generation of Democrats -- more liberal, less white and younger -- was materializing in America. On Tuesday, it became true."
"Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, scored a stunning congressional primary upset, defeating 56-year-old Rep. Joe Crowley, the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus and a politician who hasn’t faced a serious primary challenge for years."
"It marks the biggest congressional primary upset against a party leader since Republican Eric Cantor’s loss in Virginia in 2014. And it’s a win that will reverberate across the political landscape as Democrats race to respond to voter demands for more progressive candidates."
LA Times's EVAN HALPER: "The tax cuts championed by President Trump are helping push the nation toward an unprecedented level of debt, heightening the risk of another financial crisis, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office."
"The budget office’s annual look at the government’s long-term financial outlook paints a grim picture, projecting soaring deficits in the coming years, with debt ultimately peaking at more than 152% of the nation’s gross domestic product."